Habits of Highly Successful People.

WHAT ARE HABITS?

According to William James, an American philosopher, and psychologist, habit is "Any sequence of mental action which has been frequently repeated tends to perpetuate itself; so that we find ourselves automatically prompted to think, feel, or do what we have been accustomed to think, feel, or do, under like circumstances, without any consciously formed purpose, or anticipation of results."

Habits are rituals and behaviors that we perform automatically as a result of constant involvement in a particular course of action.

"We are what we repeatedly do," Aristotle famously said. "Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

What Is Success?

Very High Human Development

Although success can mean different things to different people, a successful person is generally considered to be someone who has achieved their goals in life, i.e., accomplishing a set goal or target.

To be termed highly successful means 'having achieved a lot, become popular, or made a lot of money.

Habits of Highly Successful People

Therefore, habits of highly successful people are those sequences of mental actions that have been frequently repeated by an individual to help him or her accomplish his or her goals and aid the individual in achieving a lot.

Some of these repeated courses of action are:

• Goal Setting

August Bradley, a notion and system expert, describes a goal as being a compass that aids a person in arriving at his or her destination.

Goals are therefore the targets a person sets in mind to achieve. As much as setting goals is important, the mechanics involved in achieving one’s goals cannot be done away with, i.e., the set of actions one will engage in to arrive at the goal.

"Systems are really important but without a goal, we don’t have a direction that we are going," says Ali Abdaal.

• Planning

Planning is the process of establishing the goals and objectives of a project and determining the resources and actions needed to achieve those goals.

Planning is setting a goal or target and putting in the necessary resources and mechanisms to achieve the goal. This has to do with how a person organizes themselves to accomplish the goal.

The Concept of Time Blocks

An effective habit of planning is having time blocks. This makes the individual organize and helps him or her concerning the organization. This way, he or she knows what to do at any given time, which also helps to avoid distractions.

• Maintaining a Routine

This is where an individual has a set course of action that he or she follows. This way, there is a structured system on which individuals are set. They are the duties that must be done regularly or at specified intervals; typical or everyday activities.

• Discipline

The way I would like to think about discipline is doing something or being engaged in an activity not because you want to but instead supposed to. That is because you have scheduled to do that particular thing ahead of time and therefore you would have to discipline yourself to get it done. Discipline is putting our priorities instead of our feelings first.

In conclusion, understanding and incorporating the habits of highly successful people into our daily lives can significantly impact our journey toward achieving our goals and realizing our fullest potential. By embracing habits such as goal setting, planning, maintaining a routine, and discipline, we can pave the way for greater success and fulfillment.

Author
Francis Kwaw Otoo Jnr,
UPSA